Description

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

‘A burst of springtime joy’ Daily Telegraph

‘A springboard for ideas about art, space, time and light’ The Times

‘Lavishly illustrated’ Guardian

David Hockney reflects upon life and art as he experiences lockdown in rural Normandy

An uplifting manifesto that affirms art’s capacity to divert and inspire, Spring Cannot be Cancelled draws on a wealth of conversations and correspondence between the late David Hockney and art critic Martin Gayford, in which the artist reflects upon life as he self-isolates in rural France. Their exchanges span nature, food, art, opera, fairy tales and more, and are illustrated by a selection of Hockney’s Normandy iPad drawings and paintings alongside works by other artists, including van Gogh, Monet and Bruegel. We see how Hockney is propelled ever forward by his infectious enthusiasms and sense of wonder, still utterly absorbed by the themes that have fascinated him for decades: light, colour, space, perception, water, trees. He has much to teach us, not only about how to see… but about how to live.

Publisher Review

'This book is not so much a celebration of spring as a springboard for ideas about art, space, time and light. It is scholarly, thoughtful and provoking' - The Times 'A burst of springtime joy' - Daily Telegraph 'Lavishly illustrated... Gayford is a thoughtfully attentive critic with a capacious frame of reference' - Guardian 'Gloriously illustrated ... It's a book about many things - Hockney's love of France and French painting, his reflections on many other artists among them. But at its heart is this octogenarian's adoration of nature, his belief that art is rooted in love, and a restless gusto for life ' - Andrew Marr, The Spectator